Photo: sina weibo

Italian fashion brand Fendi is caught up in a dispute after having been accused of erroneously describing the Chinese cultural roots of one of its recent products' design as Korean.

The company's customer service told the Global Times it has received numerous phone calls regarding the issue and that the company's relevant departments are investigating the matter.

The dispute centers on a handbag featuring woven designs apparently resembling the Chinese Knot, a traditional decorative Chinese handicraft with a history spanning thousands of years, which Fendi's promotional materials attributed to Korean craftsmanship, implying ties to Korean heritage.

The brand stated on its Instagram account that "In Korea, Fendi collaborated with local artisan Kim Eun-Young, who has specialized in Maedeup - a traditional craft of tying and fastening a single long string to form multiple shapes in the form of ornamental knots - since 1965."

After it is reposted on Chinese social media platforms, numerous net users suspected the brand of appropriating Chinese cultural elements, pushing this topic onto the trending topics chart on Sina Weibo on Thursday afternoon, with one related hashtag becoming the second trendy topic on this platform.

Chinese Knot is a decorative handicraft that began as a folk art in Tang and Song dynasties and became popular in Ming and Qing dynasties. It is distinctive as its complicated pattern is woven from one piece of thread.

"While Fendi's collaborative bag design is aesthetically pleasing, attributing the Chinese Knot weaving technique to Korean craftsmanship is inappropriate. The brand should respect Chinese culture," one Chinese netizen noted on Weibo.

In response to the controversy, Fendi's China customer service told the Global Times on Thursday afternoon that they had received numerous phone calls regarding the issue, adding that they have taken note of the situation and have already referred it to the company's relevant departments for further investigation and verification.

Later on Thursday afternoon, the relevant promotional content by Fendi was no longer visible on Instagram. The system indicated that the content may have been deleted by its owner or hidden according to privacy settings.

Currently, they have not received any results from the investigation, but they will continue to follow up and provide updates once further progress is made, according to the customer service.

When doing multinational businesses, "brands should learn more about the origins and context when drawing inspiration from other cultures," Hu Yu, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication under Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Thursday, adding that Fendi's latest controversy highlights the importance of cultural communication and underscores a higher standard for cross-cultural brands to balance commercial priorities with a deeper understanding of cultural narratives.

A proactive approach that brings in cultural scholars and cross-cultural experts to evaluate products would be needed for such companies before launching a product, and such measures could help brands achieve more stable and predictable outcomes, Hu said.